once upon a time there was an elephant & his owners. the owners were naughty. abraha was the name of their king. there were some people visiting the kaaba at makkah. abraha built a large church so that people come to visit it instead of visiting the kaaba. but people still went to makkah because ibraheem (pace be upon him) built the kaaba. but abraha was angry because nobody came to his large church. abraha had an idea to attack the kaaba with elephants & lots of soldiers. they went to the kaaba but the elephants sat and didn’t move. suddenly birds came from the sky and threw against abraha’s army stones of baked clay. abraha and his army were destroyed instead of the kaaba.
the people of makkah lived happily ever after.

this year was known as “aamul feel”; the year of the elephant, the year in which the prophet peace be upon him was born.

suraht al-fil

in the name of allah, the beneficent, the merciful

hast thou not observed how thy lord dealt with the owners of the elephant? (1) did he not bring their stratagem to naught, (2) and send against them swarms of flying creatures, (3) which pelted them with stones of baked clay, (4) and made them like green crops devoured (by cattle)? (5)